Cashew Chicken
This cashew chicken has a takeout-like flavor thanks to the soft stir-fried chicken and roasted cashews in garlic sauce.
Ingredients:
- ½ cup cashews, unsalted and roasted
- Half a cup of water and two tsp cornstarch
- Four tablespoons of the highest-quality hoisin sauce, like Kikkoman or Lee Kum Kee
- One spoonful of soy sauce
- 1/2 pound of skinless, boneless chicken tenderloins or breasts, sliced into 1/2-inch pieces
- Half a teaspoon each of salt and freshly ground black pepper
- two tsp of vegetable oil
- Eight scallions (one bunch), white and green sections separated, each cut into 1-inch pieces; six medium garlic cloves, minced
- two tsp of rice vinegar
- One-half tsp Asian sesame oil
DIRECTIONS
- Set oven temperature to 350°F.
- Arrange the cashews in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toast for about five minutes in the oven, or until aromatic. Remove from the heat; they will firm up as they cool.
- As you wait, make the sauce by combining the water, cornstarch, hoisin sauce, and soy sauce in a small bowl. Put aside.
- The chicken parts should be put in a big bowl. After adding the salt and pepper, mix to ensure even coating.
- Heat one tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a big, nonstick skillet over high heat until it’s extremely hot. After adding half of the chicken to the skillet, stir-fry it for three minutes, or until it is lightly browned but not cooked through. Move to a platter
- Next add the remaining chicken, garlic, and white sections of the scallions to the skillet along with the remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil. Stir-fry for about 3 minutes, or until the chicken is lightly browned but not cooked through. Put the chicken back in the pan from the first batch.
- Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the rice vinegar; cook for about 30 seconds, or until it evaporates.
- After adding the sauce mixture to the chicken, heat it for approximately a minute, tossing occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened well. Take off the heat source. Add the sesame oil, cashews, and scallion greens and stir. Serve right away